KNOW YOUR CHANCES
What does “random” mean here?
Every spin chooses an entry according to its weight. You control the list and the weights; chance decides which eligible row wins.
The rule is simple
A row’s chance = its weight ÷ the total weight of all rows.
With four rows all weighted 1, the total weight is 4 and each row has a 1 in 4 chance, or 25%. With ten equal-weight rows, each has a 1 in 10 chance, or 10%.
You can set a whole-number weight from 1 to 100 on each row. The ratio matters: weights of 1, 2 and 3 produce the same chances as weights of 10, 20 and 30. The wheel’s slices reflect those relative weights.
An example: choosing dinner
Suppose your wheel has three rows: tacos with weight 1, pasta with weight 2 and stir-fry with weight 3. The total weight is 6.
- Tacos: 1 ÷ 6, about 16.7%
- Pasta: 2 ÷ 6, about 33.3%
- Stir-fry: 3 ÷ 6, exactly 50%
Stir-fry is three times as likely as tacos on any one spin. That does not guarantee three stir-fry results for every taco result in a short session. Probabilities describe chances, not a promised schedule.
Try the dinner wheel, then adjust its weights to suit your shortlist.
Duplicates count as separate tickets
The spinner chooses rows, not unique words. If you enter Alex, Alex and Sam as three equally weighted rows, each row has a 1 in 3 chance. The name Alex has a combined 2 in 3 chance because it appears on two rows.
This can be useful when entries represent tickets. It can also create an unintended advantage when pasting a list of people. For one equal chance per person, give each person one row and use the same weight for all rows.
Repeat winners are possible
When the entries and weights stay the same, each new spin uses the same odds. A row is not “due” because it has lost several times, and a recent winner can win again.
If you use Remove & keep going, that winning row leaves the next draw and the remaining weights are totaled again. For example, remove stir-fry from the dinner example and the new total is 3: tacos now has a 1 in 3 chance and pasta a 2 in 3 chance. If duplicate labels remain, the same label can still appear as a later winner.
Use Undo to restore the last removed winner. Decide whether you are drawing with or without replacement before you start.
Where the randomness comes from
The app uses the browser’s cryptographic random-number source to select a weighted result on your device. The wheel animation presents that choice; changing sound or reduced-motion settings does not change the weighting rule.
This does not make the draw independently certified. There is no external auditor, public verification record or tamper-proof history. Browser history can be cleared, and whoever edits the wheel controls its inputs.